Easter is still Easter!

I was thinking about starting a label for "sickness" since it seems like we've had plenty of it around here. This time it was me that got sick. Now I know pride is bad, but I must say I usually pride myself in not getting sick. So I guess that's what I get. Sick, that is.

Last Thursday evening right before I left the house with Carl and the kids to go see my dad at the hospital, I talked to my mom on the phone. My dad had just had 4 bypass surgery, and the last thing my mom said to me on the phone was "Don't come if you're sick." "Don't worry Mom, I feel fine. You know me, I'm never sick."

Well, "ha"! Friday morning I woke up thinking that I felt like I had gotten run over by a Mac truck. I was achy from my head to the tips of my toes, no lie. By the time Carl got home from work on Good Friday, I was on the couch under a blanket, where I camped out for the next 4 or 5 days alternating between there and my bed.

I thought that I would try to hide from my Mom the fact that I was sick, because I didn't want her to worry about my dad getting sick, on top of everything else she had to be concerned about. But after awhile, it was just no use trying to hide it. The fact was that I was sick. Sicker than I have been in a long, long while.

By Easter Sunday, the baby was also pretty sick, and although my husband really wanted to go to his aunt's house for some homemade spaghetti and meatballs (and to see the fam, of course!), I convinced him that I was too sick to even deal with holding a crying baby while he fared sumptuously for a few hours. In reality, I was too sick to deal. Kaylee(6mo) cried 23 out of 24 hours on Easter. And I dozed and hacked and used up an entire box of tissues.

To say it was not the happiest Easter for our family is putting it mildly. The kids were all disappointed that they didn't go anywhere, not even church. Even our Easter eggs didn't get dyed until Sunday afternoon. Brianna (10) felt bad for me because I tried so hard to find the kids something to wear for Easter, then they didn't even get to wear it. When kids at school asked her what she got for Easter, she didn't have much to brag about. But she knows the true meaning of Easter, and we rejoiced together that Easter is still Easter, even when we are not able to participate too much. Jesus participated for us. He is alive, and He gives us cause to celebrate that fact everyday!

The weekend and some ponderings

It was an interesting and a good weekend. I got to spend some time with my sis Friday night. Hard to believe we only live 30 miles away from each other. It was fun just going out to Borders and chit-chatting about books and writing and life in general. She is such an encouragement and an inspiration to me.

Saturday night Jeremy (9) had to go to the emergency room because his croup made his throat close up. Taking him outside and trying steam treatments in the bathroom a few times wasn't doing the trick. So at about 4:30 Sunday morning, Carl took him over to the ER. After that I guess he felt better because Carl said they considered going out to breakfast, but Jeremy opted not to go because he was in his PJ's. I think the PJ's look like sweats, but hey, if I was 9 would I want to be out in public in my jammies? Oh well, he passed on a pancake breakfast w/ dad this time. Brianna was also recovering from croup, although hers was not as bad. She had a fever and lost her voice.

After next to no sleep Saturday night, we opted to (try to) sleep in Sunday morning. But that is a real trick with a 4 year old in the house. Corey decided to get up and play with his Lightning McQueen car and Bob the Builder phone in his room. Hmmm. Noisy toys. So much for sleeping in.

Well, it was time for the baby to be moved out of our master bedroom. She is officially 6 months old. She'll be sitting up in the bassinet if we don't get her into a crib sometime soon.

This means it was also time for Corey (4) to be moved into the boys' room. Corey was so excited and rambunctious all day Sunday. We moved his toddler bed into Jeremy (9) and Travis'(6) room. Jeremy bawled. Travis bossed. Corey bounced. I tried as best I could to organize their things and make it look presentable, even though it's like 12 pounds of junk in a 5 pound sack.

Corey is so cute, and trying to be so good. He hugs his big brothers and tries to convince them that he is a big guy now. He still has to learn not to turn on the light in the morning and jibber-jabber so loudly.

After taking Brianna to violin tonight, I ran home, fed my family, nursed the baby, then ran back to get Brianna. When I got back, Travis was attempting to play wiffle ball by himself in the front yard. Remembering my attempts at playing wiffle ball by myself when I was little, I went and pitched the ball to him. He is a star in his own mind. It was fun. After about 1/2 hour, my hands were freezing so we went inside.

Clothes to organize. Lunches to pack. Laundry to fold. Teething babies to hold. Doctors appointments. Dentist appointments. Parent-teacher conferences. Baths. Homework help. Husband's 40th birthday!

Where does books to read come in? Time to blog. Hmmm. I'm struggling to get some sleep keep some balance in my life right now. I want to blog, but I don't want to squander precious time either. I'm hoping that by blogging I will find some community with other Christian women that I desperately still desire. But most importantly, I want to have time with God, my husband, my kids. They are and will be the most important part of my life.

Just some things that have been going on and some things I have been pondering lately.

The Littlest Cutie of the Hodge-Podge Household (Part 6)

It's been a busy month, and it only promises to continue this way for the next few weeks years. When will the baby be in kindergarten? Oh yeah, it will be awhile. Sometimes in my tiredness, I feel like hurrying this whole process of seeing my kids get to an age where they are a little more self-sufficient. But then in my tiredness and in my hurry I would unfortunately gloss over those special moments of their babyhood and toddlerhood.

Our littlest member of the Hodge-Podge household is now almost 6 months old. You saw that right! I can't believe this child has been with us for 1/2 of a year. Time really does fly. Our little Kaylee Joy is simply a real treasure. She is very pleasant and sweet. She has just charmed everyone in the family, especially her Pap-Pap John.

It was not a fun pregnancy. I was big huge, at least I felt huge. Made even worse by donning a maternity bathing suit throughout the summer to take the kids to the pool. The only way to hide myself was to park myself in the water down at the 3 foot end and stand there so only the top part of me showed. The tough part was getting back out of the pool. Heave-ho! (It didn't help always seeing someone I knew everytime we went.)

Not about to choose getting cut again, I opted to have a VBAC, and we are so thankful that everything went as planned. I could actually say that most of my labor with Kaylee I had fun. I mean after all, my mom was watching the kids, and I got to spend some time with Carl. Yes, my wonderful, hard-working husband actually did take the day off. I packed him a big lunch before we left for the hospital. Good thing. I snuck bites of his lunch everytime the nurse left the room on and off throughout my labor. Why starve a laboring woman? So I paced and munched while finishing a Karen Kingsbury novel. Just what I needed to keep me occupied.

I was good to go until the doc broke my water. Good thing I had already finished my book. Time to get serious with huffing and puffing and all that! Just about the time I decided I couldn't take it anymore, I whispered to Carl to ask about that epidural. Too late, it was already time to push. Just let me tell you that I didn't appreciate the cheering section as I was pushing. Something in me, I don't know where it came from, yelled "no" for the entire pushing stage. Afterwards for some strange reason I felt compelled to confess to the doctor my sin of sneaking food. He's probably hoping she's my last baby. I swear they were going to put a sign on the door "Fussy Patient".

Every bit of that enduring pregnancy was worth it. Kaylee Joy is such a joy, and so loved upon. She receives about one hundred kisses each day from her siblings. They are just crazy about her. The first place the kids go in the morning is straight to my room to peek into her bassinet to say "good morning" to her. They all use this funny little high-pitched voice to speak to her, which just cracks me up! They rush in the door after school and line up to take turns holding her. She is so patient with it all, letting them hold her, smiling for each one in turn. Just the other day she rolled over. We all cheered for her accomplishment!

I think I'm the luckiest Mom alive to have 5 wonderful, beautiful, healthy children. They are the delight of my life. I love watching them love on the baby. Watching Brianna (10), my big girl, "mother" her baby sister. Watching Jeremy (9) try to tape a crooked diaper on her all on his own "cause she was crying, Mom". Listening to Travis (6) dance in front of her and say "boo" 20 times in a row because he gets KK to laugh everytime. Being patient when Corey (4) wants to put jelly kisses on her head while I nurse her. She usually leans back and looks up at him with this "what are you doing to me now?" expression. He has taken to calling her "Kake" lately!

These are the sweet moments to tuck away in my heart and hold onto forever. It's so true, they don't stay small forever. Life is flying by, and I don't want to spend it all blogging. But I hope to do better in March than I did in February.

P.S. Since this was posted, I noticed that Kaylee popped her first tooth on Saturday morning. The milestones keep flying by!